Tire equipped vehicle wheel to be connected with a tire air filling device carried by the vehicle

ABSTRACT

A vehicle wheel having air tires to be connected with an air filling device of the vehicle, which comprises a rotating air passage ring disposed centrally to an axle; a tire filling valve is connected with the ring by means of conduits; a wheel hub receives the air passage ring; a guide face of a bearing neck of the axle and of a hub carrier is provided, and an air passage ring is sealingly slidingly mounted on the guide face.

United States Patent J uttner et al.

1451 Dec. 12,1972

[54] TIRE EQUIPPED VEHICLE WHEEL TO BE CONNECTED WITH A TIRE AIR FILLINGDEVICE CARRIED BY THE VEHICLE Inventors: Alwin Juttner, Wiesloch; HansGruner, Heidelberg, both of Germany Assignee: Graubremse GmbH,Heidelberg,

Germany 1 Filed: July 21, 1970 Appl. No.: 56,910

Foreign Application Priority Data July 28, 1969 Germany ..P 19 38 202.6

Us. 01 ..1s2/417 Int. Cl ..B60c 23/00 Field of Search ..152/417References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,976,906 3/l961 Kamm et al..1s2/417 2,931,414 4/1960 Jankowski..... ....1s2/417 3,276,502 10/1966Ruf ..152/417 Primary Examiner-James B. Marbert Attorney-Ernest G.Montague [5 7 ABSTRACT A vehicle wheel having air tires to be connectedwith an air filling device of the vehicle, which comprises a rotatingair passage ring disposed centrally to an axle; a tire filling valve isconnected with the ring by, means of conduits; a wheel hub receives theair passage ring; a guide face of a bearing neck of the axle and of ahub carrier is provided, and an air passage ring is sealingly slidinglymounted on the guide face.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures TIRE EQUIPPED VEHICLE WHEEL TO BE CONNECTEDWITH A TIRE AIR FILLING DEVICE CARRIED BY THE VEHICLE The presentinvention relates to an air tired vehicle wheel to be connected with atire filling device with a rotating passage ring disposed centrally tothe axis, also called Rotor, to which a tire filling valve is connectedby means of a hose or of conduits. The air feed to the rotor takes placethereby either by conduits passing the axis or tubes or hose conduitssurrounding the outer side of the wheel. The different axleconstructions do not permit in many cases the application of the airfeeding into the vehicle axle, and the guidance of the conduits aroundthe axle is complicated and lending itself to disturbances. In manycases, however, long feeders from the centrally disposed'rotor to thetire filling valve is required. Such conduits are not only lendingthemselves to disturbances, but also prevent a change of urea It is oneobject of the present invention, to provide anair tired vehicle wheel tobe connected with a tire filling device which avoids the drawbacksreferred to above and to provide an arrangement which is applicable forall axial structures, removes the likelihood of disturbances and doesnot prevent the change of wheels. This is brought about, in accordancewith the present invention such, that the air passage ring is disposedin the wheel hub and it tightly slidingly mounted on the guide face ofthe bearing neck of the axle. Preferably, is thereby, the air feed tothe air passage ring provided in the immovable bearing neck of the axleand the air feed towards the tire is fed through one of the rim securingscrews. Suitably, the driver-bolt for the air passage ring formedsimultaneously as an air feeder. Likewise also one of the rim securingnuts can be formed simultaneously as connec' tion for the fillingconduit leading to the tire.

The wheel change is simplified such, that the filling conduit consistsof two parts, and in particular, an immovably disposed part, whichpasses the rim securing screw and a short filling hose, which leads tothe tire filling valve. The particular rim-securing nut and screw,respectively, can have thereby simultaneously a return valve and safetyvalve, which prevents the air escape during removal of the wheel.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description, the present invention will be clearlyunderstood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an axial section of a wheel hub, which is rotatably mounted onthe bearing neck of the axle, which is passed by a plug shaft drivingthe wheel; and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section of the air passage ring and therim-securing screw with the filling conduit projecting through thelatter.

Referring now to the drawings, the vehicle wheel includes a wheel hub l,which is equipped with a collar 2 for securing a wheel rim 3 and ismounted on the hub carrier 5 by means of a roller bearing 4, which inturn is secured on the axle body 7 by means of the securing screws 6. Indriven wheels, the drive takes place by the plug shaft 8 projectingthrough the hub carrier 5 and transmission members (not shown).

In accordance with the present invention, a sliding face 9 is providedinside of the wheel hub l on the hub carrier 5, on which sliding face 9an air passage ring 1 l is guided in a recess 10 of the hub. The ring 1l is sealed relative to the sliding face 9 by two simmer rings or thelike 12. These sealings 12 limit in the air passage ring 11 a ringchamber 13, to which is connected an air passage tube 14. This tube 14guides itself tightly in the air passage ring and projects through theinner part of the wheel hub. Simultaneously this tube 14 forms thedriver bolt for the air passage ring 1 1.

Furthermore, bores 15, 16 and 17 are provided in the rigid hub carrier,which are connected together and which forms the air feed to the innerspace 13 of the air passage ring 11. The bore 17 leads outwardly andterminates in a branch 18, to which is connected the conduit led fromthe air feeding device of the vehicle.

A conduit 20 is connected with the air passage 14 by means of a branchscrew 19, which passes through one of rimsecuring screws 21 and nuts,respectively. A filling valve 25 for a particular air tire 26 isconnected with. the conduit 20 by means of a conventional coupling 23,which is therefore not described in detail by means of a connecting hose24. A safety-on return valve can be built in, if necessary, into thecoupling 23, which valve prevents the undesirable air escape uponrelease of the rim-securing nut 2.2 for the purpose of changing wheels.

Referring now again to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 2, the airpassage ring 11 is shown at an enlarged scale in section jointly withthe tube branch 14, which forms simul-taneously the driver bolt for theair passage ring 11.

While we have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it isto be understood, that this embodiment is given by example only and notin a limiting sense.

lclaim:

l. A vehicle wheel havingair tires to be connected with an air fillingdevice provided on the vehicle, comprising a wheel hub carrier,

a wheel hub rotatably mounted in said wheel hub carrier,

an air passage ring rotating with a tire of the vehicle and disposed insaid wheel hub and sealingly slidably rotatingly arranged relative to aguide face on an end of said hub carrier,

a tire filling valve,

conduits operatively connecting; said air passage ring to said tirefilling valve,

an air feed to said air passage ring exclusively disposed in said hubcarrier secured to the vehicle for conducting air to said air passagering,

a hollow driver bolt disposed between said air passage ring and saidwheel hub and constituting simultaneously an air channel from said airpassage ring,

a tube constituting one of said conduits and arranged inwardly on saidwheel hub and connected to said driver bolt,

rim securing screws,

said tube extends through one of said rim securing screws toward anoutside direction, and

a rim securing nut for said one of said rim securing screws beingsecured as a connection for another of said conduits constituting afilling feed and leading to said tire filling valve.

1. A vehicle wheel having air tires to be connected with an air fillingdevice provided on the vehicle, comprising a wheel hub carrier, a wheelhub rotatably mounted in said wheel hub carrier, an air passage ringrotating with a tire of the vehicle and disposed in said wheel hub andsealingly slidably rotatingly arranged relative to a guide face on anend of said hub carrier, a tire filling valve, conduits operativelyconnecting said air passage ring to said tire filling valve, an air feedto said air passage ring exclusively disposed in said hub carriersecured to the vehicle for conducting air to said air passage ring, ahollow driver bolt disposed between said air passage ring and said wheelhub and constituting simultaneously an air channel from said air passagering, a tube constituting one of said conduits and arranged inwardly onsaid wheel hub and connected to said driver bolt, rim securing screws,said tube extends through one of said rim securing screws toward anoutside direction, and a rim securing nut for said one of said rimsecuring screws being secured as a connection for another of saidconduits constituting a filling feed and leading to said tire fillingvalve.